Yahoo News Jean Paul Gaultier showcases his final haute couture collection with a roll-call of iconic models at Paris Fashion Week
Jean-Paul Gaultier said goodbye to haute couture with an extravagant final show featuring famous names from throughout his 50-year career.
Bella and Gigi Hadid, Jourdan Dunn, Karlie Kloss and Winnie Harlow took to the catwalk alongside stars such as Yasmin Le Bon, who rose to fame in the Eighties and Nineties.
The French designer also called on celebrity fans to take part, including singers Beth Ditto and Boy George, drag queen Conchita Wurst and Paris Jackson.
After the show at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Gaultier, 67, said: “I feel so much love today with all those old models that came and wanted to make my show.”
The former “enfant terrible” of fashion announced he would be retiring only a week ago, although he promised the other parts of his fashion empire would live on.
The hour-long show of his spring/summer 2020 collection often referenced his most famous designs.
The “cone bra” and corset Gaultier created for Madonna’s 1990 Blond Ambition tour was reworked for burlesque star and muse Dita Von Teese and model Irina Shayk. Gigi Hadid wore his signature sailor stripes and a naval hat, motifs referenced in his perfume bottles.
Gaultier, the son of an accountant and a clerk, grew up in Paris. He never had any formal design training but got his break by sending sketches to famous designers.
In 1970 designer Pierre Cardin — who was at the event last night — hired him as his assistant, and Gaultier released his first solo collection six years later. He went on to dress many of the world’s most famous women, including Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and Lady Gaga.
At the opening of his swansong, Gaultier called the outfits his “first upcycling haute couture collection” and urged the audience to recycle their clothes. Last year he criticised “ridiculous” fashion waste, saying big brands were harming the planet by producing “far too many collections with far too many clothes”.
Ahead of the show, Gaultier tweeted: “It’s going to be quite a party with many of my friends, and we’re going to have fun until very, very late.”
Scroll through the gallery above for more pictures of yesterday's final Jean Paul Gaultier show.
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